Swallowed by Pain
by tonks-666
Summary: So I got the prologue from C. Adrien Cummings. This is a Drarry story. It's really sad. ABANDONED! All of the outcomes I can think of are simply too sad and depressing... You can try to finish it, just let me know.
1. Chapter 1

Swallowed by Pain

A beautiful blond boy stood alone on the roof of the tallest tower of the castle, looking even paler than usual. This place was his escape from the world – it had been throughout his entire school career thus far. This time, however, he intended it to be his true escape . . . in the strictest sense of the word. In his hand he clutched a muggle weapon: a handgun.

No one knew that he was here. That was how he wanted it to be, and so it was . . . because a Malfoy always gets what he wants. A bitter laugh escaped him as he thought this, because he certainly hadn't gotten what he wanted in the recent past. But then his laughter abruptly ceased, for upon further reflection he realized that it did still hold true after all: he just wasn't a Malfoy anymore. He'd changed . . . .

Near the end of the school term in his sixth year (which seemed like an eternity ago . . . could it really have only been four months?), Draco had changed. He'd begun to make his own decisions about his future, rather than letting his father dictate it. Of course he'd had to follow his father's orders mechanically anyway, to avoid being killed. But he'd made up his mind.

Nobody knew but he and his confidante, though his father somehow had his suspicions. And when one's as cold-hearted as Lucius Malfoy, suspicion alone is more than enough reason to disown one's son. And so it came to be that Draco found himself more or less on his own as the dark forces grew in power, rather than dwindling as everyone had hoped, as the war between light and dark raged on.

While his being disowned and disinherited was still 'officially unofficial', the fact of it was clear enough to him from the, as yet little known, fact that Narcissa Malfoy was now pregnant again – Lucius had deemed it necessary to produce another heir to the Malfoy name and fortune. So while the rest of the world didn't know it yet, Draco, at least, knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that once it was politically appropriate for Lucius to do so, the man would make it official, with all the paperwork and legalities that entailed.

But it wasn't just that fact that led Draco to steal away to the roof of Hogwarts' tallest tower, gun in hand. If he could have had the one thing that had made him make the changes and decisions he'd made, he would be fine. But as always seemed to happen to him, he was denied that which he wanted more than anything in the world.

It had taken him almost six full years, but Draco Malfoy had finally fallen under the spell of Harry James Potter. He had finally seen for himself what it was in the Gryffindor that everyone else saw and that he had ignored for so long in favor of intense rivalry. Two weeks before the end of their sixth year, Harry had covered for Draco in a potentially disastrous situation in school. Had he been caught, Draco certainly would have been expelled, and most likely would have faced a legal inquiry from the Ministry. Why Harry had covered him was beyond his comprehension, but regardless of that, it had brought about the end of the most intense rivalry Hogwarts had seen since that of the founders of Gryffindor and Slytherin themselves – and the two boys may have equaled or even surpassed that one. The only real difference was that Gryffindor and Slytherin had started as friends and ended as rivals while Harry and Draco had switched the order. At least, they were in the process of switching the order.

The rivalry had ceased immediately with Harry's inexplicable act of kindness and compassion, but there hadn't been enough time for a true friendship to develop before summer came and separated the two boys. They'd met a few times at the beginning of their seventh year, in secret so as not to draw any negative – for example, the Death Eaters – attention to Draco's less-than-supportive feelings toward Voldemort and the Dark Arts. Harry alone knew how Draco felt and what he believed on that matter. Draco's father being who he was, no else from the light side would trust him . . . and if anyone from the dark side found out, he'd be dead within hours. So, they wisely kept it a secret.

And Draco was fine with that. For that month and a half at the start of seventh year, Harry's trust was all that matter to him. And it always would have been enough, had the unmentionable not happened. A week before Halloween in their seventh school term, as Draco and Harry drew ever closer to each other on the path to love, Hogwarts was attacked. The light side, despite all its spies and lookouts, never saw it coming. And in the attack, Harry James Potter, the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord – the only one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord – was lost in battle. The world would soon belong to Voldemort.

How the world could come to this – how God could allow it – was beyond Draco's capacity to understand. All he knew was that he had to fight to try to avenge Harry . . . but he wasn't allowed to. The light side knew nothing of his budding relationship with Harry, and as such, they didn't trust Draco to fight alongside them. They were certain he'd just stab them in the back, and while the world was doomed to fall to Voldemort anyway, Dumbledore was determined to take as many evil men out of it as he could before it did. To do so, he couldn't have any turncoats fighting for him, and so, Draco was shunned.

That, and of course Harry's death itself, was what led Draco to the roof on which he now stood. From here, he was able to see the destruction that had been wreaked on the school and its grounds. It was an absurdly fitting last image to grace the eyes of Draco Malfoy as he raised the gun to his head, intent on removing himself from this absolutely absurd world.

Time stood still for a moment – both on that roof and everywhere else on Hogwarts' ample grounds – and every creature froze, utterly puzzled as to what could have been the source of the resounding crack that had just rung through the air. After a moment, however, life went on as usual . . . for all beings at Hogwarts, man and beast . . . save for one.


	2. Chapter 2

June 18th, 1996

Draco walked up the stairs from the dungeons. He was so deep in thought, that he hadn't realized that he had crashed into the very person he had been thinking about.

"Would you like some help up, Mal- Draco?" Harry asked, slipping up a bit on the name. In the last few months, everyone was making an effort to kinder to others. Well, everyone but the Slytherins. Draco was the only one who was making an effort.

"Thanks, Harry," he said, accepting Harry's help. Harry gave him a quizzical look as he extended his arm to help him up. Even though Harry was always making an effort to be civil to the Slytherins, it still surprised him the first time that Draco called him by Harry, instead of Potter, or _Golden Boy_.

"So, Draco, what were you thinking about when you plowed me over?" Harry asked, attempting to break some of the ice that was still there, despite their efforts to melt it. Harry felt that he was at least a little bit at fault for the collision. After all, he was thinking about that _special someone_ as well, although Harry was sure that he didn't know that.

"Do you _really_ want to know?"

"Sure, why not?"

Draco grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him down the stairs and into the empty dungeons.

"You," Draco said simply. 'Stupid, stupid, stupid move, you are _so_ stupid, Draco! What the bloody hell were you thinking?' He screamed at himself mentally. So, obviously, Draco was shocked when Harry grinned at him. "What?" Draco asked defensively. "You said you wanted to know, so I told you!"

Harry grinned even more. "You know Draco, I believe you. Wanna know why? Because _I_ was thinking of _you_ when we collided." There was a stunned silence from Draco while Harry continued to grin stupidly.

"So, where does that put us?" Draco finally asked after five minutes of attempting to process this new information.

"Honestly, I have _no_ idea," Harry said in an undertone. What _were_ they going to do? They couldn't tell anyone. If they did, the news would get back to Lucius Malfoy. I f Draco's father knew, then Voldemort would know. The two of them would be killed.

"We'll, let's keep it between us. No one needs to know. However, if we do this, does it mean that you're switching sides?" Harry asked.

"Of course it means I'm switching sides. I've been going over all of it for months. I would have switched soon anyway. I just needed proper motivation to leave the Death Eaters. I guess death is a good enough incentive," Draco added sarcastically.

They stood in silence a little longer. Then Draco said, "You know, I've always been jealous of you. No seriously," he added when Harry burst out laughing. "You've got _real_ friends. People like you because you're kind. Me, I learned everything from my _father_, Mr. Being-Pure-Blooded-is-the-only-thing-that-matters."

"Well, you do have a point," Harry replied, still giggling.

"Oh, bugger off!"

Just then, they heard Professor Snape coming down the steps.

"Oh shit!" Harry whispered frantically. "What are going to do? He'll catch us!"

"Catch us? What do you mean _catch us?_" Draco asked. "He loves me. He's not on the Dark Lord's side. You should know that by now."

"That may be, but he _loathes_ me," Harry said.

"So what? Besides, he already knows about the fact that, I, well, you know. It's kind of hard to put into words."

Snape walked into the dungeon just then.

"So, Mr. Malfoy, you finally told him, did you? Potter."

"Professor?" Harry said, confused.

"Oh, believe me Potter. I've known about Draco's liking for you for quite some time, even when he didn't."


End file.
